Printing machine



PRINTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 6'7 INVENTOR BYATTORNWEY.

Nov. 5, 1935. M. FIEHL 2,019,897

PRINTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 26 FIG.3.-

66 67 INVENTOR Patented Nov. 5, 1935 PATENT I OFFICE PRINTING MACHINEMichael Fiehl, Endicott', N. Y., assignor to International BusinessMachines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication November 15, 1933, Serial No. 698,093

12 Claims. (Cl. 101-318) This invention relates to printing machines ingeneral, more particularly to means for inking printing members such astypewheels, electrotypes, and the like.

The broad object is to provide a novel and improved inking mechanism forprinting wheels, electrotypes, and the like.

Another broad object is to provide an inking mechanism which is operatedand/or controlled by electricity.

A specific object is to provide an improved inking mechanismsuitable foruse in electric time stamps and the like which mechanism renders inkingribbons unnecessary.

Another specific object is to provide an improved inking mechanism fortime stamps and the like, which mechanism is electrically controlledand/or operated.

Still another specific object is to provide an inking mechanism for timestamps and the like the operation of which mechanism is initiated by theinsertion of the imprinted.

A further specific object is to provide a time stamp or like printingmachine which is completely electrically controlled and operated throughthe insertion of the paper or document to be imprinted, both theimpression device and the inking mechanism being electrically controlledand operated.

Various other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will bespecifically pointed out in the following description and claims or willbe apparent after a study of the description, claims, and theaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings: r

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the normal condition of the partsand circuits.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the condition of the parts and circuitswhile the printing members are being inked.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the condition of the parts and circuitsafter the printing members have been inked and the impression is aboutto be taken from the printing members.

Fig. 4 shows the condition of the parts and circuits at the time theimpression is being taken and restoration of the parts to normalposition is about to take place. a

The present invention is adapted for general use in various types ofprinting machines but for convenience in description will be describedherein as incorporated in a time stamp like, for instance, the onedisclosed in Letters Patent No. 1,798,583 granted to L. C. Bishop and A.L.

- a solenoid having a coil I 2.

paper to be stamped or Sprecker. It will be understood that theembodiment of the invention and its setting described herein areillustrative only and the invention is not limited to such embodiment orsetting.

The numeral l designates generally a-printing 5 member orinstrumentality which may be a time printing type wheel provided withcharacter types as in the above patent. Coacting with the printingmember In is a plunger ll actuable by The solenoid may be like the onedescribed in the above patent or any other suitable form may be used.The end of plunger I l nearest the printing member l0 has a table i3 onthe upper surface of which may be removably secured an ink pad H of inkretaining material. When the coil I! of the solenoid is energized, theplunger i l is drawn upwardly to force the pad 84 against the faces ofthe character type on the printing member ill-thereby inking saidcharacter types in readiness for a subsequent impression of thecharacter types on the paper or document to be stamped. Slidably mountedin the time stamp framework (not shown) is an impression member orplaten l5 adapted to be moved forward from the position of Fig. 1 to theposition of Fig. 3. The face of the platen l5 may be of resilientmaterial such as rubber or cork in order to ensure a clear sharp imprintof the character types on a paper or document inserted between platen l5and the printing member ID and pressed against the latter by said platenwhen operated. I

Pivoted to platen I5 is a link it which is also,

, pivoted to an arm H. The later is pivoted at l8 to the main frameworkof the time stamp. Normally a spring l9 tends to rock arm I! in acounterclockwise direction and move the platen 35 to the left (Fig. 3)to the position shown in said figure. Such operation is normallyrestrained, however, by a latch 20 which engages a hook-shaped lug 2| inthe upper end of arm H. In the normal position of the parts in Fig. 1,

the lug 2| presses upon an insulating button on one of a pair ofcontacts 22 in such fashion as to hold said contacts open. As usual intime stamps, a paper table is provided and designated 23 in the drawingswhich table has an opening to permit the platen l5 to move upwardlyagainst the printing member ID as in Fig. 4 but prevents contact of thedocument or paper to be stamped with the ink pad l4 and alsoserves as aguide for the insertion of the paper or document.

Pivotally mounted at 24 is a lever 25 whose upper end normally holdscontacts 26 in closed condition and whose lower end normally occupics a.position to the left of contacts 21. The latter are normally open andare rigidly mounted on a gooseneck lever 28 pivoted at 26.' The curvedend of lever 28 overlies a projecting part of the plunger H and normallyis held against a stop pin 36 by means of a light spring 3| as in Fig.l.

A trip lever 32 is pivotally mounted at 33 and extends upwardly into thepath of movement of platen l5 and to one side of plate l3. A link 34 ispivoted to the lower end of lever 32 and connects the latter with an arm35- pivoted at 36 and a light spring 31 normally holds arm 35 against astop pin 38 in Fig. 1. The arm 35 has a bent-over lug 39 upon whichrests a link 40 pivoted at 4| .to an arm 42. The latter is pivoted at 43to the framework. The link 40 is normally held in the position of Fig. lby a spring 44 anchored to a pin on said link, which spring holds a lug45 in link 46 against a stop pin 46. A second lug 41 in link 40, whenthe parts are in the position of Fig. 1, occupies a position slightly tothe right of the lug 39 and in the path of movement of the latter.

An armature 48 is secured to an arm 49 pivoted at 50 to which arm isanchored the spring 44, the armature 48 being adapted to be attracted bythe energization of winding l2 to move from the normal positions ofFigs. 1 and 3 to the positions of Figs. 2 and 4. The arm has a curvedtail or lug 5| which underlies the link 40 and is adapted, when thearmature is attracted toward winding l2, to lift the link 48 a distancesufficient to permit lug 41 to clear lug 39 as in Figs. 2 and 4.

A link 52 pivoted to arm |1 connects the latter to the plunger 53 of asolenoid having winding 54. It will be obvious that energization of windng 54 will cause the restoration of arm H to the positionof Fig. 1 aftereach operation of said arm. Pivoted to the framework at 55 is abellcrank 56, the horizontal arm of which (Fig. l) is adapted to closenormally open contacts 51, and whose vertical arm is provided with a camsurface 58 adapted to be engaged by the lower end of lever 25 as in Fig.3. Secured to arm 42 is a double contact member 59 adapted, when thelink 40 is moved to the right, as in Fig. 3, to bridge and thuselectrically connect two contacts 60. The latch 28 may be released bymeans of an electromagnet 6| cooperating with an armature secured to onearm of said latch.

The general details of construction having been described briefly, theoperation of the machine will now be explained.

A document or paper to be stamped, designated 62 in the drawings, ispushed against the lever 25 at a point above the card table 23 and belowan overhanging part of the casing of the stamp, a fragment of whichcasing is designated 63 in the drawings, the casing being, as usual,arranged to provide an open slot or similar opening to permit insertionof the paper 62 between the printing member iii and ink pad l4. Pressureof the paper 62 against lever 25 causes the latter to be rocked slightlycounterclockwise thus closing contacts 21. v

A circuit is then established from one line wire 64 of the currentsupply line 64, 65, over wire 66, contacts 21, the winding |2-, and wire61, to the other wire 65 of the current supply line.

Energization of winding l2 causes plunger to move upwardly to theposition of Fig. 2 inking the type faces of printing member ID. Duringthis movement of plunger H, the gooseneck lever 28 is rocked in acounterclockwise direction by plunger II, thus moving contacts 21downwardly to the position of Fig. 2, freeing said contacts from theinfluence of lever 25. As a result, contacts 21 open, deenergizingwinding I2, which will occur about the end of the upward stroke ofplunger ll, and the latter drops by gravity to the normal position ofFigs. 1 and 3. During the upward movement of plunger II, the paper 62 isbeing held against lever 25 with the result that the latter eventuallymoves to the right of the normal position of contacts 21.

As plunger drops back to its normal position, the lever 25 will berocked counterclockwise a further distance due to the constant pressureof paper 62 on said lever and eventually, when the pad M and its supportceases to obstruct the passage of said paper over table 23 andunderneath printing element II], the lever 25 and paper 62 will move tothe position of Fig. 3. The lever 25, in moving from the position ofFig. 2 to that of Fig. 3, will eventually engage the cam surface 58 inbell crank 56 and rock the latter to close contacts 51 as in Fig. 3. Atthis time, closure of contacts 51 establishes a circuit from line wire64, through wire 68, contacts 51, wire '69, the winding of magnet 6|,wire 10, and wire 61, to line wire 65. Energization of magnet 6|releases latch 20 allowing spring IE! to move arm |1, link l6, andplaten |5 to the position of Fig. 3. During this movement of platen l5,the latter will strike the upper end of lever 32, rocking said lever ina counterclockwise direction, and forcing link 34 to the right (Fig. 3)thus rocking arm 35 in a clockwise direction. Such movement of arm 35causes lug 39 to engage lug 41 and force link' 40 to the right, rockingarm 42 in a counterclockwise direction until a lug 1| in link 40 strikesstop 46. The movement of arm 42 causes double contact 59 to bridgecontacts thus closing a circuit as follows:

Line wire 64 contacts 59, 66, wire 12, windin i2, and wire 61, to linewire 65. As a result, the plunger H is again drawn upwardly movingplaten l5 and the paper 62 (which now overlies the platen) upwardly andpressing the paper 62, against the previously inked type faces.

Energization of winding I2 causes armature 46 to be attracted, rockingarm 49 in a counterclockwise direction thus raising link 40 to theposition of Fig. 4 due to the action of lug 5|, whereupon spring 44draws link 40 to the position of Fig. 4 where lug 41 overlies lug 39,this permitting contacts 59, 60 to break the circuit through winding l2.As a result of opening contacts 59, 60 the plunger H and platen I5 dropto the position of Fig. 3 permitting withdrawal of the now imprintedpaper 62. Such movement of paper 62 allows lever 25 to swing to theposition of Fig. 1, the lower end of said lever wiping past contacts 21without closing them but merely depressing the left end of goosenecklever 28 slightly, the right-hand contact 21 being of stifi? metal orhaving a stiif support strap 15 as shown to prevent said contact frombeing flexed to the left while permitting the contact to be fiexedto theright a slight amount as. usual in the type of construction illustrated.

Return of lever 25 to-the position of Fig. 1 also causes contacts 26 toreclose establishing a circuit as follows:

Line wire 64, wire 68, contacts 26, wire 13,

contacts 22 (permitted to reclose when arm |1 was released), wire 14,winding 54, and wire 61, to line Wire'65. Energization of winding 54draws plunger 53, link 52, arm l1, link l6, and platen l5 to the rightuntil latch 2|) reengages thus The 32 to rock back to the position ofFig. 1 thus causing lug 39 in arm 35 to move to position slightly to theleft of lug l1 and allow the link 40 to again assume-the position ofFig. l. The parts, having been restored to the normal position of Fig.1, the time stamp is in readiness for another operation.

It will be noted that the mechanical construction is very simple andthat, since all parts are operated and/or controlled by electricity bymeans of interlocked circuits, the operation of the mechanism isextremely rapid and very reliable.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamentalnovel features of the invention asapplied to asingle modification, itwill be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changesinthe form and de-.- tails of the device illustrated in its operationmay be made by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit of the invention. It is the intention therefore to be limitedonly as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Aprinting mechanism comprising a printing element, a pad for chargingthe printing element with ink, means for moving the pad to.

ink charging position, means controlled by movement toward printingposition ofthe sheet to be-imprinted for initiatingoperation of themoving means whereby to charge the printing element with ink, a platenadapted to be interposed between the moving means and printing element,andmeans controlled by further movement of thesheet toward printingpositionfor interposing the platen and operating the mov ing means.

2. A printing mechanism comprising a printing element,lmeans for inkingthe printing ele-' ment, operating means therefor, a platen normally outof operative relation with said operatmg means but movable intooperating relation and means controlled by movement of a sheet to beimprinted for moving the platen into operative relation with theoperating means and initiating an operation of the latter. 7.

- 3. A printing mechanism comprising a printing instrumentality, meanscontrolled by a preliminary movement of a sheet to be imprinted forcharging the printing instrumentality with ink, and means controlled bya further movement of said sheet for taking an impression from saidinstrumentality.

4. A printing mechanism comprising a'printing instrumentality, an inkingpad for charging said instrumentality with ink, a solenoid for operatingsaid pad, a control circuit for said solenoid when brought intooperative relation with said solenoid for initiating a second operationof the latter.

controlled 3 i 5; A printing mechanism comprising a printinginstrumentality, inking means therefor, im-

pression taking means, a control circuit for the inking means, a controlcircuit for the impression taking means, and means controlled by twoincre- 5 bringing the impression means into cooperative relation withthe operating means and initiating an operation of the latter.

7. A printing mechanism comprising a printing instrumentality, means forinking said instru- 20 mentality, an electromechanical device foroperating the inking means including a control circuit for said device,and means in said control circuit and operated by a movement of, a sheetto .be imprinted for rendering the electromechanical device operative.

8. A printing mechanism comprising a printing element, an impressiondevice, means for moving said device in front of the printing ele-' mentin readiness to take an impression from said element, means foroperating said device to take an impression, and means controlled bymovement of a sheet to be stamped toward printing position forinitiating operation of both the moving means and operating means.

9. A printing mechanism comprising a printing instrumentality such as atype wheel, an inking pad adapted to charge the printing instrumentalitywith ink, means controlled by a move. ment of a sheet to be imprintedtoward printing position for operating said pad to ink saidinstrumentality, an impression member, and means by a further movementof said sheet for operating the impression member. I 10. A printingmechanism comprising a printing element, an inking device spaced fromthe printing element to provide a space for the insertion of a sheet tobe imprinted, a trip lever at one end of said space in position to beoperated by the initial movement of a sheet inserted in said space,means controlled by said Itrip lever for operating the inking device toink said element, an impression member movable into said space whereinsaid impression member cooperates with the operating means and confrontsthe printing element, a second trip lever at "the opposite end of saidspace to the first trip lever, said second trip lever being operated bythe sheet to be stamped when said sheet confronts the printing element;means controlled by said secing device, inkingmeans and impressiontaking means for said device, a pair of trip spaced levers successivelyengageable. by movement'of a record sheet to a position in front of theprinting element, means for operating the inking .means and impressionmeans, and means controlled by the trip levers for causing the operat- 4ing means to operate the inking means and impression means insuccession.

12. In a printing mechanism, a printing mem- Y latter; a solenoid foroperating said pad to ink the member, a trip lever in the path ofmovement of a sheet to be imprinted and responsive to the initialmovement of insertion of said sheet in said.

passage, a control circuit for the solenoid and operated by the triplever, and means operated by said solenoid for interrupting said circuitwhen the pad inks the printing element whereby to permit withdrawal ofthe ink pad from inking position and permit movement of the sheet infront of the printing member.

MICHAEL FIEHL.

